ATTORNEY: Brauer Stabbed Soldier In Self Defense

The attorney for ECU Student Christopher Brauer of Durham says his client stabbed a soldier after he was assaulted twice and warned the soldier to stop assaulting him.

Brauer is currently out on bond, but charged with the Oct. 29 murder of PFC Keyonn Parkin. Parkin was stabbed at a party the night of Oct. 28 outside of the Pirates Place Townhomes on Charles Blvd.

A press release from Brauer's attorney, Les Robinson, addresses whether the 21-year-old received special treatment from Greenville Police and from the judge who reduced his bond from $1 million to $500,000.

Read the full press release from Robinson by clicking on the document above this story.

In the press release, Robinson also says the night of the incident, Brauer had been assaulted twice and his girlfriend was also assaulted. Robinson says Brauer drew the knife and warned Parkin to stop, and when he did not, Brauer stabbed Parkin once.

Parkin died from his injuries. Robinson says Greenville Police Chief William Anderson's statement that Brauer was developed as a suspect after three days of interviews is not correct. According to Robinson, Brauer identified himself to police on scene as the person who stabbed Parkin.

The press release says attempts to compare Brauer's case with that of James Richardson are incorrect. Richardson was convicted of a double murder outside the Other Place Nightclub. Robinson writes that Brauer went to uniformed police at the scene of the crime, while Richardson left the state without speaking to police.

Robinson says Brauer's case is more comparable to that of Eric Gilbert, charged with a fatal shooting outside Club Fuzion on West 5th Street in Greenville in December 2010. Gilbert is accused of the murder of Derek Brathwaite. Gilbert is not currently behind bars. Robinson wrote in his press release that Gilbert's bond was reduced to $250,000, which is half the amount that Brauer's bond was set at.

Previous Story:A Greenville murder suspect has posted bond and released from jail, just one day after the NAACP and other groups questioned his bond being lowered from $1 million.

Christopher Brauer was arrested last week for the murder of PFC Keyonn Parkin, a Fort Bragg paratrooper.

Brauer's $500,000 bond was posted at 10:53 a.m. Thursday morning, according to the Pitt County jail.

Parkin was stabbed October 28th outside Pirates Place Townhomes after a dispute over a stolen wallet. Brauer, an ECU student, turned himself in last Wednesday. Police named him as a suspect in the murder the day before. The man's original bond was set at $1 million, but a judge cut that in half during a hearing the same day he was arrested.

NAACP chapter president Calvin Henderson briefed reporters Wednesday about what he and others believe is unfair treatment of people arrested that are not white.

They say after Brauer was questioned by police about the stabbing death of Parkin and then he was allowed to go back home to Durham. His bond was also reduced, something they say wouldn't have happened to someone of a different ethnicity.

The court clerk's office says $375,000 of Brauer's bond was in cash, $75,000 was in property, while the remaining $50,000 was listed as another bond.

According to the bond order, Brauer must reside with his parents in Durham. He must be home before 9 p.m. each night and cannot leave until 5 a.m. The bond order also says the suspect cannot have any contact with the victim's family. Brauer was also ordered not to possess or consume any alcohol or controlled substance, or possess any deadly weapon.

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